It happens all the time. Home sellers and buyers who are under contract with a real estate agent want a second opinion so they call or email another agent. I am pretty easy to find with the blog and all. It is easy to second-guess someone else but I won’t.
I don’t know the whole story and I am not comfortable judging someone else. There are all sorts of situations where people want free advice . . . because it is free.
People who are having trouble with a real estate agent should talk to that agent. If the agent isn’t doing his or her job as outlined in the buyers or sellers contracts buyers or sellers can ask the agent to cancel the contract.
If that doesn’t work or isn’t an option the next step is to call the real estate company and ask to talk to the broker. Real estate agents all work under real estate brokers and the broker is responsible for the agent’s actions.
If the agent is a Realtor® (Member of the national association of Realtors) and has done something unethical consumers can file an ethics complaint through the Minnesota Association of Realtors.
There is a code of ethics and the specific article that was violated needs to be stated in the complaint. Realtors are held to the standards in the code of ethics and we hold each other to those standards.
I am on the ethics committee for the Minnesota Association of Realtors®. I sit on hearing panels and listen to complaints about and from other members and from the general public. I have learned so much by attending hearings and reading complaints and responses.
There are reprimands and fines for agents who violate the code of ethics. Sometimes violators are sent to training classes.
Consumers can also file complaints with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and they do. You can look up actions that have been taken against licensees and of course the major complaints sometimes make the news.
